1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for displaying an image by sequentially performing an address period and a sustain period.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,618 discloses an electrode driving method for a PDP. Panel driving timing is divided into a reset (i.e., initialization) period, an address (i.e., write) period, and a sustain (i.e., display) period. During the reset period, each cell is initialized to efficiently perform addressing. During the address period, cells to be turned on and off are selected, and wall charges accumulate in the cells to be turned on. During the sustain period, the addressed cells perform discharges to display an image.
In the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,618, the address period and the sustain period are separated from, and independent of, each other in a time domain that represents gradation in a field-subfield structure. In other words, after addressing is sequentially performed on all scan electrodes, the sustain period is simultaneously executed for all of the cells. According to the method, a sustain discharge in a previously addressed scan line is executed only after all scan lines have been addressed. Accordingly, when gradation is represented using the conventional method, a temporal gap between a cell's addressing and sustain discharges may occur, which may destabilize the sustain discharge.